Japanese Use Wild Monkeys To Track Radiation 85
PolygamousRanchKid writes "Scientists in Japan are taking a novel approach to measuring the impact of radiation in a forest affected by the Fukushima nuclear crisis: enlisting the help of local wild monkeys. Takayuki Takahashi, a professor of robotic technology at Fukushima University, told CNN Wednesday his team was working on a collar fitted with a dosimeter to measure radiation levels that could be fitted to the monkeys before they are released back into the wild. Takahashi said the experiment would help researchers understand how radiation in the forest can affect human beings, as well as wild animals. While human scientists have been monitoring radiation levels from the air, the use of monkey 'assistants' will give them a clearer idea of conditions on the ground."
Re:Where have I heard this story before? (Score:5, Interesting)
After all, they're the ones who prevented fuel rod recycling or the construction of new reactors.
Any citation to back that crap up? From what I understand fuel recycling has been hampered by technical complexity (breeder reactors), fear of uncontrollable proliferation in a full-scale Pu economy and non-competitivity in face of cheap uranium and oil. And the first obstacle in the construction of new reactors has always been that extending the operational life of existing ones, as was done in Japan and is currently done in Russia, is by far the most profitable move.
From my point of view one of the most serious obstacle against the credibility of nuclear energy is probably the smug and haughty attitude of those innumerable assholes ready to deny at any cost the shortcomings of their pet technology and to wipe off any legitimate concern as necessarily coming from so-called "ludites" and "joe-six-packs". Are you certain that you are not the blind idiot here?
Re:Where have I heard this story before? (Score:5, Interesting)
Any citation to back that crap up?
Five plants under planning or construction were abandoned from 1994-2003. The decision to extend the life of the Fukushima plant came later. It's also worth noting that the next generation fast breeder plant at Rokkasho has experienced significant opposition to its opening despite being the only real way to recycle fuel rods in Japan (aside from the prototype plant at Joyo, which apparently is much smaller). And that the waste ponds at Fukushima did contribute to the severity of the accident.
From my point of view one of the most serious obstacle against the credibility of nuclear energy is probably the smug and haughty attitude of those innumerable assholes ready to deny at any cost the shortcomings of their pet technology and to wipe off any legitimate concern as necessarily coming from so-called "ludites" and "joe-six-packs". Are you certain that you are not the blind idiot here?
And why does that indicate anything other than a problem on your part? You might not have noticed, but this is Slashdot. We have a fine tradition of smug and haughty argument. The world manages to survive somehow. I don't see anything magical about nuclear power that should exclude it from public discourse or a treatment by the attitude.
Witness for example, the very post I was replying to. A smug and haughty AC demands that the very people "responsible" for the Fukushima accident be the subjects of testing rather than cute, fluffy monkeyys. I merely pointed out, in kind, the fundamental error in that statement, namely, that responsibility adheres to far more than the villains of the day.
Why don't you go ahead and complain to everyone doing this? Not just the people you disagree with? I see no reason why I should disarm my rhetoric, just because I happen to be on the wrong side in a public debate.